The red-hot Detroit Tigers have been playing amazing baseball since about mid-August and now control their destiny to earn an AL wild-card spot as they host the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 2 of their series on Wednesday with the Tigers as short favorites on the MLB odds.
Tampa Bay vs Detroit: 2024 MLB Expert Analysis
| Opening MLB Lines Subject to Change: Tigers -121, Rays -101 (total 7.5) Expert Prediction: Tigers 4, Rays 3 |
Why Bet on Tampa Bay?
The Rays are playing out the string but should be right back in AL East/playoff contention in 2024 with a ton of young talent and getting its pitchers healthy over the winter. Their lone goal now is to finish with a .500+ record for a seventh consecutive season. At 78-79, they need to win three of their final five to avoid a losing record.
They were last under the mark in 2017 (80-82). Should the Rays do so, it would surpass 2008-2013 (6) for the longest streak in franchise history. The Rays are one of four teams to post a .500+ record each season from 2018-23, joining the Braves, Dodgers and Yankees.
Pete Fairbanks
The closer (lat) is progressing in his rehab program but won’t have enough time to return from the 15-day injured list before the end of the regular season. Fairbanks will finish the season with 23 saves and a 3.57 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 44:17 K:BB across 45.1 innings.
Richie Palacios
Ahead of Tuesday’s opener, the team reinstated OF Palacios from the 10-day injured list. Palacios was placed on the IL on August 3rd with a sprained knee. He had been starting regularly against right-handed pitchers before getting hurt and was slashing .233/.350/.332 in 88 games with five home runs and 19 steals. Palacios was 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter in the 2-1 loss Tuesday.
Zack Littell
It’s the righty on the mound Wednesday. Zack (8-9) earned the win over Boston last Thursday, allowing one hit and recording seven strikeouts without issuing a walk over seven scoreless innings. LIttell allowed just one base runner in the outing (on a third-inning single). He retired the final 13 batters he faced and was ultra efficient, needing only 75 pitches to complete seven frames. Littell became the fifth pitcher in franchise history to work seven-plus scoreless, walk-free innings while allowing one hit or fewer. The others? Drew Rasmussen (April 9, 2023), Nathan Eovaldi (July 8, 2018), James Shields (May 9, 2008) and Ryan Rupe (May 23, 1999).
⛽️🔥🥵 pic.twitter.com/B5HULUWIrV
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) September 20, 2024
“Really remarkable,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said after Littell’s last start. “He’s been reliable, dependable. You feel like you know what you’re gonna get every outing, and then he puts an outing like this together where it’s just really impressive.”
Littell has held his opponent scoreless in three straight starts, compiling a total of 18 scoreless innings while posting a 16:1 K:BB during that span. He hasn’t allowed a run since Sept. 2 in his return from a precautionary stay on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder fatigue. Zack has a 3.56 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 134 strikeouts in 151 2/3 innings overall this year.
He lost at home to Detroit on April 22, allowing six runs — five earned — and eight hits in six innings. He had seven strikeouts. Littell is 2-1 with a 2.81 ERA (16.0IP, 5ER) in six career appearances against the Tigers, with two starts.
^Why Bet on Detroit?
Since returning from the injured list on August 13, Kerry Carpenter has been raking at the plate as among American League hitters in that span (min. 75 plate appearances), he ranks second in slugging percentage and OPS, tied for fourth in homers and seventh in RBI. For the season, Carpenter ranks second among AL hitters (min. 250 plate appearances) in slugging percentage (.601) and ISO (.310) and sixth in OPS (.952) and home run rate (6.1%).
Detroit has played a whopping 54-one run games this season, its most since playing 53 in 1985, and is 30-24. The Tigers have won 12 of their past 14 one-run games. They also are looking for their first season series win over the Rays since 2021.
Jackson Jobe
Ahead of Tuesday’s series opener, the Tigers called up one of the top pitching prospects in the sport in Jobe, who will work out of the bullpen the rest of the MLB season. The Tigers led the Majors in innings from their bullpen in 2024. Jackson, who turned 22 on July 30, owns a 5-3 record and a 2.36 ERA over 21 starts across three Minor League levels. He was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 draft. He has been exclusively a starter throughout his pro career, but his inning of relief for the Tigers in spring training made an impression throughout baseball, from a 100.6 mph fastball to a wipe out change up. Jackson Jobe didn’t get into Tuesday’s 2-1 win.
“We’re trying to do everything we can to use our best guys in the best situations to win as many games as we can. He has some of the most electric stuff in the game. It means we think he can help us win,” manager AJ Hinch said of the decision to call up Jackson.
Jobe is joining the hunt.
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) September 23, 2024
The Tigers will select the contract of RHP Jackson Jobe to the Major League roster prior to the upcoming series against Tampa Bay. pic.twitter.com/REDkpIYIV7
Keider Montero
It’s the rookie starting on Wednesday. Montero (6-6) allowed five runs on seven hits and a walk across 4.2 innings of work in last Friday’s 7-1 loss to the Orioles. He struck out seven. Montero followed opener Tyler Holton, who allowed two runs of his own, so Montero wasn’t charged with the loss. However, he still struggled as he gave up four home runs and saw his ERA climb from 4.60 to 4.86.
Montero simply could not keep the ball in the yard. Colton Cowser and James McCann each took him deep twice. It was the first start in which Montero allowed multiple home runs since the start of August. The silver lining was the seven strikeouts, which were one away from matching a season high. Montero’s change up was still lethal despite his poor performance overall with eight swings-and-misses on just 10 swings and the Orioles never even put one in play.
Manager AJ Hinch
“Our player development system raved about this guy from the get-go, and step by step along the way he’s added a pitch, he’s added a little bit of a tweak in his delivery, he’s maintained his aggressiveness around the strike zone, and he’s unflappable when it comes to the competition,” Manager said. “He’s going to leave it out on the mound.” Montero has never faced the Rays.
^Rays at Tigers Info
When: Wednesday, 6:40 PM ET
Where: Comerica Park
Pitchers (away/home): Zack Littell/Keider Montero
TV: MLB Extra Innings
Stream/game day audio: https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/
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